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A more radical innovation was the addition of competence requirements for graduation from both the College of Liberal Arts and the School of Nursing. Three areas of competence were identified: writing, quantitative reasoning, and oral communication. Students were required to demonstrate competence in each of these in various ways, including passing courses in regular departmental subject areas. These courses were designated for that purpose by the letters W (writing), Q (quantitative reasoning), and S (speaking) to indicate the appropriate competence.


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Freshmen take an orientation examination in
Bowman Gymnasium.
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In 1979 the DePauw Honor Scholar program was introduced, offering special opportunities for intensive intellectual experience to 20 carefully selected freshmen each year. Members of each honors class enroll in a cross-disciplinary seminar during the first four semesters and in the last two years pursue independent study culminating in an honors thesis prepared under the direction of one or more members of the faculty. The organizer and first director of the program was Robert E. Calvert of the political science department. Other faculty members assisted in the program from the beginning, and in 1985 Eugene Schwartz of the chemistry department succeeded Calvert as director.


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President Richard Rosser, along with Carl Singer, director of academic computing, and Robert Thomas, professor of mathematics and computer science, celebrate more computer equipment, a VAX 11/780.
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The Center for Management and Entrepreneurship came into existence in 1980 to "prepare liberal arts students for leadership roles in private and public sector management and to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship." Among the center's activities have been an executive-in-residence program that brings business leaders to campus for presentations and round-table discussions, a series of symposia, and an annual Small Business Conference. The center also supervises the DePauw Management Fellows program for exceptional students planning careers in management, either in large corporations, small business firms, or non-profit organizations. Its directors have been John S. McConnell, Charles R. Tilden, and B. Thomas Boese. Vincent Serpa of the Romance language department was acting director in 1985-86 and assistant director for the following year.

Two unfinished construction projects reached completion in the early part of the Rosser presidency. A campaign headed by Trustee Ardath Burkhart to raise funds for the restoration of East College culminated in the bequest of an estate valued at $2.7 million from alumnus Philip St. John Charles in memory of his parents and his sister, Emilie Charles, also a DePauw graduate. The bulk of it was designated for the restoration of East College. A gift from alumna Caroline Hughes Crummey in honor of her father, Edwin Hughes, former DePauw president and Methodist bishop, went toward the restoration of Meharry Hall.

Under the direction of Indianapolis architects H. Roll McLaughlin and Forrest Camplin the majestic old building was meticulously refurbished and restored to approximately its original appearance, but with the addition of such modern appurtenances as wall-to-wall carpeting, air conditioning, and an elevator. In Meharry Hall, the structure's centerpiece, the organ was removed from the stage, which was itself restored to the smaller size and curved front seen in early illustrations, and a replica of the small balcony that originally extended over the stage was built. The elimination of the iron fire escapes from the outside wall at the rear of the hall, however, led to a fire marshal-imposed ban on occupation of the distinctive sloping balconies favored by freshmen in the old daily chapel days.


 



The new East College also contained remodeled classrooms, faculty studies, the offices of the Center for Management and Entrepreneurship, a Hall of Donors, a faculty lounge, and the depository of the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, established earlier by Sigma Delta Chi. The dedication of the restored East College on Old Gold Day 1981 was a celebration of the spirit of Old Asbury in the midst of an extensive modernization of the DePauw University campus.

The next year the Lilly Physical Education and Recreation Center was completed at a cost of $7.2 million. Located just south of the Julian Science and Mathematics Center it was designed by Herbert R. Thompson of the Indianapolis architectural firm of James and Associates and named collectively for Josiah K. Lilly Jr., Josiah K. Lilly Sr., and Colonel Eli Lilly- the father, grandfather, and great grandfather, respectively, of Ruth Lilly Van Riper, the chief donor. The imposing structure contained a spacious fieldhouse, natatorium, auxiliary gymnasium, and numerous smaller facilities, as well as classrooms and offices for the coaching and physical education staff. The fieldhouse itself was named in honor of Raymond "Gaumey" Neal, who coached the famous championship football team of 1933. Surviving members of the team contributed $2.3 million to its construction, Chester Elson and Norman Frees of the class of 1936 each pledging $1 million.

The razing of Music Hall and Bowman Gymnasium presented a unique opportunity for the creation of a beautifully landscaped plaza in the three-acre empty space between Hanna Street and the new Performing Arts Center. Bowman Park, complete with a natural amphitheatre, reflecting pool and fountains, curving walks, and a patio furnished with tables and chairs for outdoor refreshment, came into being in 1983. It provided an open-air recreational area located conveniently near the center of the campus.

 




Other additions to the physical plant included the purchase of Charter House from Gobin United Methodist Church in 1983 and the construction of a new baseball field named for alumnus-athlete Merle "Ole" Walker in 1984. Charter House provided a centralized location for the offices of development, alumni affairs, public relations, university publications, the news bureau, and summer conferences as well as improved quarters for the university health services. The administration also planned extensive remodeling of older university facilities, especially Asbury Hall, Harrison Hall, and the Roy O. West Library. The work on Asbury Hall was completed by the fall of 1986, while the even more thorough refurbishing of the library extended through the 1986-87 academic year and into the fall of 1987.

 

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A view across the pond with fountain in
Bowman Park at the Performing Arts Center.
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Bowman Park on the site of Bowman Gymnasium
has become a favorite hangout for students,
who gather around the fountain in warm weather.
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Depauw University e-history | E-mail comments to: archives@depauw.edu

 

People, Events  & Traditions

Recollections of War

Women Teachers of English

Percy L. Julian

Student Hangouts

The History Quartet

Speech Teachers

Religious Life

Hiram L. Jome

Little 500 and Other Traditions

Two Distinguished
Botanists